


The Host

by scullywolf



Series: TXF: Scenes in Between [26]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:02:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4517640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf





	The Host

_“Somebody shoved this under my door. I guess you really do have a friend in the FBI. And Mulder… when you see Skinner to hand in your field report… I know that it’s your decision, but I that hope you know that I’d consider it more than a professional loss if you decided to leave.”  
_

The shuttle from DCA to Newark only took an hour and a quarter, which Scully found to be a  _vast_  improvement over the four-plus-hour drive. Learning that Mulder was booked on the same return flight that she was, well, that made things even better. They weren’t seated together, but after the cabin doors were closed, and the seat beside Mulder remained empty, Scully quietly made her way two rows up to sit next to her former partner.

He stiffened when she sat down, making only furtive glances in her direction. She regarded him calmly with an arched eyebrow, until he seemed to remember that there was actually a legitimate reason for them to be seen together, that they were both in fact there in an absolutely official capacity, that he was  _on record_  as having called her up to Newark to observe the flukeworm creature. He relaxed, finally, before pulling his briefcase out from under the seat in front of him.

The small, noisy commuter plane wasn’t well-suited to carrying on a conversation, but it was nice just to sit companionably side by side after weeks of only the briefest interactions. Scully read a book, and Mulder added notes in the margins of his field report, which he wordlessly passed to her when he was finished. It read like an X-File; truly it was one in all but name, but even Skinner would have to agree that the conclusions Mulder had drawn were undeniable.

Scully couldn’t help but wonder again about this supposed “friend” of Mulder’s. Skinner had given Mulder this assignment, pulled him off surveillance duty specifically for it. Why? It seemed unlikely he could have foreseen the unconventional direction this case would go, and even if he had, why would he have wanted Mulder back on a case like this when he was the one who closed the X-Files in the first place? Scully might have assumed it was all a coincidence if not for the tabloid shoved under her office door, the piece that had helped put the whole puzzle together.

So that suggested… someone was using  _Skinner_ , directing him to give Mulder the assignment, which meant that Mulder’s “friend” would have to be in a position  _above_  the Assistant Director. But if that were the case, wouldn’t whoever it was have just prevented the shutdown of the X-Files instead?

She caught herself staring off into space and felt Mulder’s eyes on her. She spared him a smile and a self-deprecating shrug before recommitting her focus to the report. After making her way through the final pages, she closed the folder and handed it back to Mulder with a nod. He nodded back at her, then put the report away and sat back in the seat, closing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest. Scully watched him for a long moment before wishing him a silent “good luck” and turning back to her book for the remainder of the flight.


End file.
